This invention relates to a method and apparatus for viewing remote microscope images.
Currently there is increasing demand for pathologist review of samples at remote locations. There exist multiple systems to address this need. They typically fall within one of two categories: live remote microscopy and virtual slide imaging.
In live remote control microscopy, a user receives images that are taken from a slide on a microscope. In virtual slide imaging, a user receives images previously captured. Virtual slide systems take one or more images of an area of interest and assemble them together (if there is more than one image) to form a virtual slide. Each of these techniques has its advantages. Live remote imaging provides users with the closest approximation to manual manipulation. Virtual slides allow faster image viewing, since images are already captured.
Virtual slide systems take one or more images and assemble them to form a “virtual slide.”
However, users in the past were limited in their ability to integrate these technologies. One could only view and manipulate live and virtual images independently of one another. A user would have to clumsily go back and forth between these two modes of operation to separately look at the virtual slides and live microscope slides. We present a new method that integrates these ideas into one seamless operating environment.